Salem, W. Va. – With wet weather coming in over the weekend, the Wheeling University Baseball team (9-20, 2-10) moved the final two games of their four-game series to Salem, West Virginia on Monday. The Cardinals served as the home team and were able to salvage a game in the four-game series with a split of the second day. The Cardinals fell 6-2 in game one before bouncing back for an 8-3 win in the final game to finish the weekend 1-3.
Game One: Salem 6, Wheeling 2
As the Cardinals took the field for game one of their doubleheader, it was the Tiger offense that would get things going. Salem would strike for five runs in the top of the first inning and the Cardinals were in an early 5-0 hole before coming to the plate. Sebastian Khan would get the start for the Cardinals and after the rough patch, was able to work his way out of the inning. The Cardinals were looking for an answer in the bottom half of the inning, and would do just that as Keaton Ference stepped in with two outs. Ference would lift his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot over the left field wall and the Cardinals cut into Salem's lead, making it a 5-1 game. It was Ference's fourth home run in his last 10 games as he has become a power threat for the Cardinals in the #3 spot in the order.
After the rough first inning, Khan settled in the rest of the way, throwing up zeros over each of the next five innings. He would finish throwing 6. Innings allowing the five runs, one earned, on five hits while walking one and striking out five. Meanwhile, Salem had a similarly strong start from Connor Thiele who after allowing the run early, put up zeros in four of the next five innings. The lone exception was the bottom of the third when the Cardinals got things going on a Dylan Maltby single with one out. Maltby would get into scoring position on an error and Chris Sauer would pick him up. Sauer single through the right side and Maltby would score from second to get the Cardinals to within three runs at 5-2. However, the Cardinals couldn't get another run across, and an insurance run in the top of the seventh would push the Salem lead back to 6-2.
The Cardinals came to the plate with a four-run deficit and after two outs the Cardinals would threaten again. With two outs, Maltby would step to the plate again and got himself into scoring position with a double. However, that's where the threat would end as a groundout ended the inning and the Cardinals would fall 6-2. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Keaton Ference, who finished 1-3 with a home run and an RBI. It was his fourth home run in the last 10 games for Ference as he continued his recent success. Chris Sauer would add the other RBI for the Cardinals, finishing 1-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Dylan Maltby would pick up the other two Cardinal hits on the day, going 2-2 with a walk across his three at-bats.
Game Two: Wheeling 8, Salem 3
After falling behind early in game one, the Cardinals were looking to get on the board early to start game two. After a scoreless innings from Jaden Wilcox to start the day, the Cardinals would get going in the bottom of the first when Brett Johnson got things started in a leadoff walk. He would advance to second on a wild pitch and two batters later, Keaton Ference would step to the plate. Ference would single back up the middle to bring home Johnson and the Cardinals were staked to a 1-0 lead. Wheeling was right back at it in the bottom of the second, this time with Josh Rush starting things with a single. Two batters later, Rush would steal second and a Jalen Raysor single moved runners to first and third with one out.
It would be a wild pitch that brought home the second run of the game, as Rush scampered home from third, and Wheeling was out to a 2-0 advantage. Wilcox kept the success going on the mound with his second straight 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third and the Cardinal offense just kept coming. The bottom of the third would start with a Ference hit by pitch and Nicolas Ancelet would reach on an error to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Two batters later, Christian Boyles was hit by a pitch to load the bases and another wild pitch would bring home Ference to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Rush would walk to load the bases and Jacob Lentz drew a bases loaded walk of his own to make it a 4-0 Wheeling lead after three innings.
Wheeling would score for the fourth straight inning in the bottom of the fourth when Spencer Craig started things out with a single. Ference stepped in and immediately brought him all the way around with a triple. With one out, Dylan Maltby would step in and singled home Ference and the Cardinals had built a 6-0 lead. The Tigers broke through in the top fo the fifth, scoring twice off Wilcox and the Wheeling lead was cut to 6-2. Wilcox would be charged with a third run in the top of the sixth before giving way to the Cardinal bullpen. Wilcox would finish throwing 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five. Matt Sanfilippo would come on to get the Cardinals out of the inning and Wheeling would get two of those three runs back in the bottom of the sixth.
Ancelet started the inning with a double, but would be thrown out at third for the first out of the inning. Maltby would immediately replace him with a double of his own and Christian Boyles singled to move runners to first and third with one out. Boyles would then steal second and Rush stepped in with two runners in scoring position. He would single back up the middle and both Maltby and Boyles would score to extend Wheeling's lead to 8-3. Sanfilippo would come back out for the top of the seventh with a five run lead on his side, and he was able to close out the game after facing four batters in the top of the seventh to secure the Cardinal's 8-3 victory. It helped the team salvage a game during the weekend, finishing 1-3 as they get set to return to Mountain East Conference (MEC) play next weekend.
Leading the way for the Cardinals for the second game in a row was Keaton Ference, who finished 2-3 with a triple and and two RBI in the effort. He finished a combined 3-6 on the day with three RBI as he continues his offensive tear. The other Cardinal to match his effort was Josh Rush, who equaled his 2-3 effort with two RBI, including a pair of insurance runs late that helped secure the Cardinals win. Dylan Maltby would add a 1-3 day with a pair of RBI to round out the day as the Cardinals got their ninth win of the season.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Saturday, April 12th, when they head to Frostburg State with first pitch at 1 PM.
